Untapping the sustainable water bank’s public financing for Dutch drinking water companies

The Dutch Water Bank (NWB), which was created in the 1950s, still provides long-term, low-cost, low-risk patient and appropriate financing to public entities. It is a model that has worked, but not without room for improvement. The NWB has an opportunity to untap its support of Dutch drinking water companies’ sustainability transitions. To do so, it needs to embrace its ‘publicness’: leveraging its position within the Dutch public sector to catalyse water investments in the public interest. The NWB offers important lessons for global debates on public banks and sustainable transitions.